Solving Poverty through the 4 E's

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New FWOP Affiliate

Helphen India

Created in January 2013 when a team of like-minded freshmen from Vellore Institute of Technology started contemplating the society of Vellore, Helphen India was officially recognized as a Society under Societies Registration Act of 1860, India on 26 March, 2015. Like most other semi-towns of Tamil Nadu, Vellore was home to poverty, unemployment, inadequate infrastructure and lack of educational facilities. With the help of some detailed surveys covering the most remote areas of Vellore, they were able to identify significant areas of improvement for life in Tamil Nadu.

After these surveys, Helphen India then started with a series of projects and activities that would introduce prosperity in this town. First, they reached out to a nearby village based school and started teaching subjects like computer programming, Olympiad level mathematics and English which were beyond the scope of their normal curriculum. When this initiative took momentum, they introduced a scholarship program called Prayaas to motivate students who excelled at academics but did not hail from affluent sections of Tamil Nadu. They have sponsored over 8 students in the last year.

They also organize frequent health check-up camps in remote areas where medical facilities are a nightmare, along with organizing awareness camps for sanitation, cleanliness and personal hygiene. They consistently promote paper as an alternative to polythene bags though demonstrations and competitions in schools and orphan homes. Helphen has organized two marathons in 2014 and in 2015 which spoke out against female feticide and promoted Swacchh Bharat Mission ( waste management and sanitation government initiative ). They also saw the participation of more than 5000 supporters from across the country at each event.

Helphen India plans to extend their program to other parts of the country with their internship programs. Areas of interest particularly include vocational training for the unemployed and using science as an instrument for development of smart and self-sufficient villages.

The Society is guided by a board of fourteen members which is presided over by a president. The members of the board are representatives elected by the members of the society. The headquarters of Helphen India is based out of Vellore, Tamil Nadu. A core committee is formed for every student chapter that desires to register with Helphen India. The core committee is then divided in multiple teams based on the projects they take up. Selections to core committees take place once in every year. All members work towards a shared objective and thus are free to propose their ideas to solve problems they see around them. Once the project proposals are ready, they are scrutinized and prioritized. Detailed budgets are then prepared and an extensively diligent phase of fundraising begins. When funds are raised, projects begin to turn into reality under various team leads.